Rolling!

Ear Piercing

Pippi has recently become interested in earrings. She asked me several months ago if she could get her ears pierced. I responded by telling her that she probably would have to wait. I explained to her that you have to clean your ears every night when you first get your ears pierced. She said she thought she could handle that. I told her she would need to be old enough to not need reminding. And then I said, "When I don't have to remind you to brush your teeth morning and night anymore, I will then know that you are ready to have your ears pierced."

I'm still reminding her twice each day.

So Pippi, in her typical fashion has created a solution "outside the box."She has a pair in every color in a line on her dresser. She only wears them around the house. The particular pair modelled here was designed to go with her field day shirt.

Dear Bardo, my son, my sunshine,

We had quite the day today didn't we? First thing in the morning you were bustled without breakfast into the car for the Young Women's Memorial Day Fundraiser Breakfast. You picked out your own clothes and were very careful to put your Cars underwear on backwards. You have your own ways, and I just think you are adorable.

Once we got to the breakfast, Dad and I had lots of work to do, and somehow, we got so caught up with all the cooking that we took minimal care of you. Dad thought I was watching you and I thought he was watching you, but really, you were taking care of yourself. You took yourself to the bathroom, and you were so happy with this accomplishment that you came into the kitchen and told me. You got your hug and then went on your merry way.

Everyone got in line after the flag ceremony to get food. All the other moms and dads were taking care of their little boys and girls and filling their plates. When I came into the room to help the pancake flippers I caught you with a pair of tongs full of fruit in one hand and a plate with a pancake on it in the other hand. I quickly helped you get the fruit onto the plate, and tried to get you to sit with a friend, but there was so much for you to see! You crammed the watermelon into your mouth, left your plate on the table and skipped over to see what some other friends were doing with your pancake in your hand. I got distracted and had to get back to the kitchen.

I checked on you a few more times. You were just running and playing around with friends, but then, as I was helping shut down some pancake griddles, I saw you with 2 greasy hands and a full mouth, in front of the bacon tray. One of your adult friends was trying to help you fetch that last piece of bacon. As you completed your mission (of finishing off the bacon) I quickly led you into the bathroom, lathered you up with soap and rinsed those greasy hands. You were very specific about wanting to pull your own paper towel out of the dispenser. I kept you with me for awhile, but then you wanted to go play with friends again. I suppose watching me clean is a little boring.

After awhile, I was scrubbing dried pancake batter off of table clothes, and Dad got a call from a friend saying that you were outside responding to "nature's call." Dad quickly left to search for his little "pee-er." We lost you for at least a full five minutes. It was very scary. Dad found you in the car. Evidence shows you were using some of the wipes we keep in there to clean your hands.

Unfortunately, I still had work to do, so Pippi became your primary caregiver. She does a great job, and you love being with her. So I cleaned, loaded up the car, and I helped take care of some big kids, and you were left to your own devices. Dad and I have resolved to handle things a little better in the future while we're trying to help at church activities. And I hope you enjoyed it because you won't be eating bacon by the handful again. I've decided you have a lot to learn before your ready to go off on your own. Thank goodness, because I simply am not ready to let you go yet.

What would I do without my boy who tells me several times a day that he believes I'm a princess and in the same breath tells me he believes in Jesus. I might forget the names of all the Cars characters if I don't have you to remind me. And who will put Daddy in his place with a sweet rendition of Shoo Fly, Don't Bother Me, when Daddy gets a little too bossy? Also, you are the most sensitive of my feelings of all my friends and family. You always want to know if I'm sad or happy. I appreciate your concern. We need you little buddy. You are so important to our family.

Love always and forever,

Mom

The final results

As of today, my diet is officially over.

Actually, it's not over so much as I'm going to increase my calories and change my eating habits a bit to account for the fact that I'm running something like 25 miles a week and I'm otherwise working out like mad.  It's a new phase - I expect to "trim up" a couple of pounds over the next months, but I no longer consider myself to be dieting.   I am now happy where I am.  I'm going to tone up a bit with some weightlifting, but I don't think I need to lose anything more if I don't want to.

Total weight loss:  60 pounds.

Diet and Exercise - Part III

Parts I and II below. Read them first. Or not.

Here's how I implemented the rules. First, I got a bunch of the "weight loss" shakes at Costco. I have one for breakfast every morning still. Why those? Well, they have about the same amount of calories as a bowl of cereal with milk, but better nutrients. Also, I needed some way to make sure I followed the rule I didn't tell you about, which is "don't skip meals." Ever. Including Fast Sunday.

For the first couple of weeks, I had a weight loss shake for breakfast, one for lunch augmented by some fruit, and then small portions of whatever was for dinner. I didn't eat any sauces or dressings (although I have grown to love straight vinegar). I was eating 1700 or so a day. I was also was always hungry. Really hungry.

As time went on, I allowed more foods back into my diet, and I replaced the shake at lunch with a Subway sandwich (6" Subway club on wheat, no cheese, all the veggies except olives, vinegar only, 340ish calories; I later added back the cheese to ensure I was getting enough calcium).

I found good stack foods too. Flavored rice cakes (the carmel ones) are 50 cals a piece, and tasty. Jerky is high protein, low cal, and tasty. I drink diet soda, which satisfies my sugar cravings. Diet Coke and Diet A&W are the best.

After a while, I started going out to restaurants with friends again. I had enough practice saying, "no thank you" to things that it was a logical next step.

I have "cheated" exactly four times - but I had planned those times in advance so I don't consider them cheating. I had half a scoop of ice cream at the party after Noel's blessing. I had some fajitas and some ice cream on my anniversary date with the Witch. I planned to take Easter off and did so for 24 hours. When I went camping in the desert two weeks ago, I didn't pay any attention (that is, I ate when I was hungry) to what I ate because I figured the middle of nowhere was not a good place to be playing around with nutrition.

Other than that, no lapses.

On the exercise front, I started out slow so as not to injure myself. I added some running into my basketball and football. At first I could only run about a mile and half a couple of times a week. Most of that was because my knees didn't like hauling me around. Now I am running a bunch, as anybody who sees my facebook page can attest.

I've averaged something like 2.5 pounds a week in loss. I also consulted a doctor to make sure that I wasn't doing anything stupid.

So that's how I did it. I have used the past tense because I am already to my original goal of 195. I realized along the way that I could (and should) go about 10 pounds farther than that, so I reset my goal along the way. Give me four weeks or so and I'll have the pics.

Diet and Exercise - Part II

Part I is below. Read it first, unless time flows backwards where you live (Idaho, I'm looking at you).

The big challenge I had in figuring out rules and such was that I was worried about what would happen when I was done. I mean, it's all fine and good to go nuts on tons of protein if that helps me lose weight, but what happens when I add carbs back in and still have bacon cravings? So I decided faddish type of things were not going to work long-term, and instead I had to teach myself to live a different lifestyle. And this is how I did it.

1. First and overriding rule: my calorie intake stays below 1800/day and above 1200/day. Why above 1200? So my body wouldn't start packing on fat when I started eating more in anticipation of starvation. That idea seemed to be well documented, so I incorporated a minimum as well as a maximum. I usually go between 1500 and 1700 on a given day. At first it was a bit time-consuming to count, but now I can do it all in my head quickly.

2. No calories from bad sources, since I need my nutrition. In other words, no candy bars, ice cream, brownies, potato chips, etc. This later morphed into a "no high fat food" thing, so I eliminated peanut butter and similar. I did that because I started looking at my carb/protein/fat intake percentages and found I was getting enough fat naturally as it was (a 65/35/15 level). Also, I theorized that it takes more energy to convert protein into body fat than fat into body fat, although I have no idea if this is true. It sure sounds good, though.

3. Exercise a lot.

4. Never cheat.

5. Excuses are for wimps.

That's it.

I implemented the first two rules very, very strictly at first. I had a list of about 10 foods I would allow myself to eat, and I would automatically say no to anything else. Period. In retrospect, I think it may have been a not-so-hot idea from a health perspective, but it was a fantastic idea from a mental perspective. It gave me access to great willpower because it was easy to see if I was cheating or not. I no longer have a list, but I do tend towards foods I tend to eat more often than not.

The exercise bit was my way of saying that I should do things I liked. I continued to play basketball and football and added in some volleyball and softball - things I liked. And then I started running. More on that in Part III. I've become a bit of a nut on that lately.

The last two rules were nods to the fact that (1) I had tried to lose weight before and had always failed, mostly because I'd had one bad day that turned into a bad month and (2) I had been using the execuse that I was a "big guy" and therefore wasn't all that fat - which was a horrible lie I told myself, and I don't believe it when anybody says that anymore.

Diet and Exercise - Part I

Today's weight loss update: I have slightly under 10 pounds to go. Total weight loss to date since January 14: 51.2 pounds. Before and after pics to come when I hit the goal.

A lot of people have been asking me how I have managed to lose so much weight. I invariably reply, "diet and exercise," mostly because that is an absolutely infuriating answer, true though it is. I then leave people to ponder on what precise secrets of diet and exercise I have stumbled upon that they have not.

Just for fun (and to chronicle my own efforts, I suppose), I'll give you my secret here, but only if you agree that [legal disclaimer] I am not a doctor and you should consult one and I can't be held liable for anything ever [/legal disclaimer].

Here's the secret: if you burn more calories than you take in, you lose weight. Really, it's that simple. 3500 calories = one pound, more or less.

Turns out most diets are just ways of tricking you into doing that. My own inflated sense of self has me believing that I'm too smart to be tricked into anything, so I decided to just count the blasted calories I was eating. There are many programs online that will help you do this. I used Fitday.com and a nifty iPhone app I got for free.

A few surprises ensued. First, I was eating a TON. And by a TON, I mean that I had 6000 calorie days sometimes. A usual day was around 4000 or better - and my daily requirement for days I didn't exercise was something like 2800. You do the math.

Second, it turns out that counting calories was a bit more complicated than I thought, only because I now had to watch where food was coming from. To my complete non-surprise, stuff like candy bars had a lot of calories for the amount of fullness I got. And I know enough about nutrition (as augmented by the Witch, who has actually studied this stuff) to know that getting all of your calories from, say, a jar of peanut butter every day is not a good thing.

Third, I started to realize that my portion sizes were pretty big, like most Americans, and I insisted on eating everything on my plate. I blame this directly on my saintly mother (sorry, Mom!) and millions more just like her who tirelessly convinced us that if we didn't finish the last morsels on our plates that a child in Ethopia would die. Or something like that.

Fourth - and this was the biggest revelation - I realized that exercise alone was not going to cut it. I was playing basketball for 2.5 hours every Tuesday and football for 2 hours every Saturday and still gaining weight. I was burning an extra 2000 calories or so playing basketball but eating an extra 3000 or more. Again, you do the math.

This all evolved into my diet rules, which I'll detail in Part II.

Do I Have To?

Do I have to get up from the computer and try to get the shampoo (a bottle's worth, dumped out while I was going to the bathroom) out of the rug? Can't I just surf the internet? Or read my book? Or even do the dishes? Pulling out shampoo from carpet is BORING!!!

A Day In the Life of Bardo: Approaching Three

From the moment Bardo wakes up he's telling me short one sentence stories that often make very little sense. This morning the first words out of his mouth were: "After I died, I threw up." Hmmmmmmmm. I'd be concerned, but he said it with such stoicism that I felt I could quickly rule out a traumatic nightmare. The next pressing concern was the location of his Cars shirt (which is actually a rash guard). He found it, has worn it all day, and as his head hit the pillow he needed reassurance that I would not be putting this beloved piece of clothing into the laundry.

All morning long, Bardo's "big boy" friend, Justin hung out at our house. They participated in their favorite activities: eating cookies, swinging on the swings, sticking all the pegs in the Battleship game, watering the garden and getting wet. After his buddy Justin got wet, Bardo was very excited to share his clothes with his friend.

Today, the Warlock took Bardo to get his first "spiky cut." The hair stylist asked him how old he was. He replied, in his deepest tough guy voice, "I'm a big boy," as if saying his age would indicate something different.

This evening for family home evening we went out to eat. Bardo shoved a whole Saltgrass grill children's pizza into his mouth, piece by piece, by the handful. He looked like a chipmunk. A couple of times he tried to talk, his cheeks bulging. How fortunate we were to have such a perfect, public opportunity to introduce our son to the concept of talking after all the food is chewed and swallowed.